playing with patterns...

Too much time on my hands! Or maybe I should just see it as an opportunity. Relatively stuck - unable to drive and limited to short walks if it looks dry enough to brave with the crutches - has given me endless scrolling time! There are so many crochet patterns out there! So given I have lots of bits of sock wool to play with, thought I'd do a few little squares in different patterns and see what I like. Still not decided what I'll do with them yet! Maybe a sample blanket or cushion - depends how many I get out of the bits I suppose and what they look like together in the end.

So far...

...moss stitch, a kind of compromised shell stitch made into a square, a two row pattern I found (no idea if it has a name), a kind of bubble stitch, a sc/htr alternate pattern, and a crochet mitred square. Of course they are all a bit of the skew and I haven't sewn ends in yet but I'm having fun playing!

Only then I got side tracked, because I really like the feel (and ease to be honest, loving a bit of mindless crochet at the moment!) of moss stitch, so tried combining one of the sock yarns with a left over sport weight in cream...

Oh I liked this - I did it on a size 5 hook so it made up into quite a dense fabric - for a blanket I think I'd go up a hook size to give a better drape but I think this might be heading for a cushion cover. Only, as always when I try to use up my stash, now I need some more cream to make a back for it!! Unless I can think of a way of combining other leftovers.

And similarly...

I thought I had another half ball of the jade but no! So now I have half a cushion cover, destined for my bedroom which is heading for a remake with this colour as accent colour, waiting for me to decide what to do for a back. Maybe I'll raid the charity shops for a sweater to repurpose or some unwanted yarn from elsewhere - I am determined not to buy new!

I finished my latest pair of socks...

These pics show the colour better as there was a bit more decent natural light. Usually I bother to unwind the yarn to make sure the socks properly match but I just couldn't be bothered this time so I have slightly random stripes! I don't care so figured what does it matter - if I was giving them to someone else I'd have made the effort.

And in between all the hooky stuff, it has finally been bright enough and dry enough to swap my endless laps of the living room for a short, slow very cold walk round the park at the end of my road. So lovely to feel a little winter sunshine and see some blue sky.

S x

fabulous skies and wedding presents...

We have had some amazing blustery days just lately - the sort of sunshine that makes you think its going to feel like summer, then when you venture outside strong winds that nearly knock you off your feet. I had some sheets on the line yesterday and had to do battle with them just to get them in - as fast as I unpegged a bit the wind whipped it back around the line!

But accompanying this weather have been some fab skies...

A couple of nights ago, as the sun was setting the bottoms of the clouds were all tinged with pink against  a sky that was still pretty blue. Made me think of 'Red sky at night, shepherds delight' that my mum used to always say - always makes me feel optimistic about the chances of the next day's weather prospects!

Then last night there was the most stunning rainbow; what caught my eye first was the low sun that looked as though it was shining a spotlight on the church in the distance...

You might be able to just pick out the church tower poking up from the dark hedge in the middle of the picture - it usually looks quite grey but was bright gold. The rainbow was a full double that arced from one side of the field to the other and at each end was so bright you could barely look at it.

It lasted for quite a few minutes and as the sky darkened it seemed to brighten even more before fading away...

There must have been a pot of gold under there, don't you think?

In order to catch these picture I had to drop my project for the evening - the wedding present cushions I posted about before. The wedding is Saturday so the pressure was in to get my act together and finish them and...

Ta dah! But you've kind of seen these before because I posted about them when I finished the fronts, so...

...here are the backs! I couldn't find two jumpers to recycle that were quite right (I was looking for cotton jumpers to match the cotton yarn I used - so much thin acrylic out there!) so for the smaller one I used up what was left of the rowan cottons I'd used for the grannies. For the larger cushion, I found a cardigan in Oxfam which just fitted the bill.

It had a pretty moss stitch button band so I used the back and the buttonhole side of the front and just added some bright new buttons. Easy peasy!!! The only bit that I struggled with was doing the cutting up! This was a Boden cardigan (Boden is something I dream of being able to afford!!) and was quite a nice boxy cardigan - I was tempted to keep it but it was a bit tired on the sleeves and I really needed to finish the cushions so I went for it. Once I've made that first snip, I'm away - no more worries! 

And here they are waiting to be parcelled up...

I hope Kathy & Will enjoy them!

Til next time then

Sx

PS thanks for your nice comments after yesterdays moans - have a bit more perspective on things today and not feeling so miserable! x

my week in pictures...

I had half written a post earlier in the week when blogger went into melt down and half of what I'd written was deleted. When I finally had time to have another go, I couldn't really remember what I'd intended to say and can't be bothered to think that hard about it! So I thought I'd just have a quick review of my week in pictures on the grounds that 'stuff' I wanted to remember, I am likely to have taken photos of... I hope.

Lots happening in the greenhouse! This is not really my domain - R is veg gardener in chief - I am allowed to admire and water (if I'm careful!), thats all! This picture was taken a week or so ago and I am amazed how fast stuff grows in here, all these plants are probably double in size now. Can you see the bug-eating plant in the blue and white stripy pot on the left of the shelf?

It is the funniest looking thing! I took my mum to the Gardener's World show last year and we both got these in the hope they'd munch away on the greenfly. I guess this is its flower but its quite a 'fleshy' sort of thing - not sure what its going to do next!

The creeper on the front of the house is in full leaf now...

It is a really bright yellow-green with red at the very edge of the leaves and looks lovely in the sunshine. Seems to be making its annual bid for the gutter though... 'someone' is going to have to climb up and trim it back (was rather hoping it wouldn't have to be me...).

The yellow iris in the pond have started to flower...

They are sooo bright they almost look a bit out of place as the garden is so full of purples, pinks and the odd splash of red at the moment. Seems funny to think that only a couple of months or so ago I was desperate to see the bright yellow of the daffodils to lift that winter feeling - these are lovely but almost make me wince in contrast to everything else!

The weather has been all over the place this week. Not nearly so warm but sunny on and off and we still haven't had much sustained rain. Difficult to get it right getting dressed in the morning (I have been freezing twice this week, lulled into a false sense of summer looking out of the window!) and I have spent the week drying washing with my fingers crossed!

At the same time the sky looked like this...

and this...

...depending which way you were facing!

Of course this...

...waited until I had got to the supermarket 20 mins away from home (after I'd hung the washing out!) but the smell of summer rain was just delicious (or is that just me?!).

I treated myself to this pretty little vase...

...courtesy of the charity shop, yay!

Yesterday, I had a bit of time to kill while my car brakes and tyres were being checked so had a wander round the nearby Hobbycraft shop...

They don't have the widest selection of yarns in terms of variety but there was lots to squish! And then I found this...

I Want This Book!!! It is just full of gorgeous colourfulness! I almost treated myself then remembered that I might have a big car bill to pay and decided I couldn't justify it but I might drop big hints for my birthday next month... (although I'm really hoping everyone will chip in towards a new camera and would be very happy if I don't get anything else at all...)

This week I have been busy trying to get a present sorted for my friend Kathy who is marrying her Will on 28th May. This is second time around for both and they are combining two homes so have said they don't really need anything. But I have known Kathy since our boys started in reception (they are 22 now!) so really wanted to give her just a little something so am making her a couple of cushions (in my head you can never have too many cushions, can you?!).

The little card I found on my favourite yarn/crafty stall on the market - I had been struggling to find a card that wasn't too slushy (and they are so expensive!!!) and thought this would just fit the bill.

I hadn't done any cross stitch for a while and this was an easy little thing to do. Took me less than an hour and made me think I should do more cards for special people - bit more personal? There is actually enough thread in the kit to do another of these and I'm sure I have a bit of fabric somewhere so 2 for the price of one!!

I finished the top of the first cushion today...

I just have to decide what to do about the back but I think I'm going to do the top of the second, slightly smaller one first and then decide. I'm trying to use up my stash of Rowan handknit cottons (Kathy would approve, honest, I'm not really being a complete skinflint!) - the colours are nicer than they look here; I just don't have masses of each colour so am trying to come up with two cushion covers that coordinate but are not identical. Need to have a browse through some other blogs for inspiration for cushion 2! I hope she'll like them.

Have just realised this has turned into a very long post so just two more pics... Sunday baking!

Rock cakes for son 1 - gluten free...

And fruit tray bake for the non-gluten free contingent - who couldn't wait for it to get cold before they cut it! Hence a bit crumbly!

Hope you've all had a lovely week, til next time

Sx